by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack.

Rep. Michael McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack - shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs - and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training.

Homemade bombs built from pressure cookers have been a frequent weapon of militants in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen once published an online manual on how to make one.

McCaul also tells Fox News Sunday that he thinks the suspects' mother played "a very strong role" in her sons' radicalization process and that if she were to return to the United States from Russia, she'd be held for questioning.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All
rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.